New computer (tax free weekend coming up)

[Jonhilgen]

Hey guys,

There's a tax free weekend coming up, so I want to take advantage of it.

I really need a new computer, but I'm so out of it, I have no idea what to get.

I will be using it mainly for Quickbooks and Sketchup.  Would rather have a tower, not a laptop, and I'm going to wall mount a large monitor.

Suggestions?

Thanks ahead of time.

Jon

 

[Wenyce]

If you're a mac guy

& you already have a monitor then ( MacMini $ 249, I would choose the last one in the list))
http://www.cowboom.com/product/1209361/

& you want something with a monitor (24" monitor iMac  $ 525)
http://www.cowboom.com/product/651360/

______________________
If you're a PC guy

& you want something with a monitor  (20 in monitor $359)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-slimline-400-314-desktop-20-led-monitor-package/9999228400050001.p?id=pcmprd227100050001&skuId=9999228400050001&st=categoryid$pcmcat212600050011&lp=2&cp=1

& you already have a monitor ($ 249)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-slimline-desktop-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive/5815013.p?id=1219194065871&skuId=5815013&st=categoryid$pcmcat212600050008&cp=1&lp=1

All those options up there come with wifi just incase you didn't want to run a ethernet cable to the computer. You don't need anything fancy for what you mentioned above, The very best thing to speed up any computer right now is to replace ( or add as main software drive) the hard drive with an SSD, You can go to newegg.com for good reviews on ssd's, only problem you might face is that ssd's that don't cost much, won't give you much space either, but if you're not a music hoarder or a movie downloader then even an 120gb ssd should be just fine and a good deal on one of those should be $ 90 or less.

 

[Nvcraftsman]

+ 1 for the Apple Mac mini, it's a great machine. I was a diehard PC guy then converted all of my computers to Apple. Never been happier, ps that was 2 years and they are all working just like the day I brought them home. Good luck

 

[bkharman]

+ 1 for the Apple Mac mini, it's a great machine. I was a diehard PC guy then converted all of my computers to Apple. Never been happier, ps that was 2 years and they are all working just like the day I brought them home. Good luck

+1

I have a lot of Apple products and the new mini (no CD/DVD) is really nice. I have 2 in the house and am looking at installing on in our QX60 as a media server. I saw some guys do it so you can sync movies & shows between a home media server and the mini in the auto.

I have two young kids and DVDs don't have a long lifecycle in the car. Not a cheap option but a very slick one! 

 

[dltflt]

+1 for Apple

 

[tiralie]

I will be using it mainly for Quickbooks and Sketchup.  Would rather have a tower, not a laptop, and I'm going to wall mount a large monitor.

Jon:
Sketchup really works well with a fast chip. It can utilize a good graphics card but will function as well with the latest Intel drivers on their on board graphics chip. This wasn't always the case.
I am not sure about the requirements for quick books but usually a machine marketed as "multimedia centers" have a reasonable, >4gigs of ram which should be able to run Quickbooks while you are running a browser and sketchup.
Other than building a machine from scratch, I would focus on getting a machine that has the fastest chip speed >3.4 Ghz and up with a graphics chip or card for Sketchup, and then look at what ever other issues such as hard drive size, ram etc.
I have a Asus M11AD, which is billed as a "multimedia center" but it runs Sketchup very well. For the price $800.00 I might have been able to build one a bit better than this but not by much.
Tim

BTW,  SSD drives are a great upgrade and speed up a machine. I love them. Win 7 and 8 (along with Adobe) are hogs and you will need to get a 256 g SSD (eventually) if you are going to run anything other than a couple programs and or delete some of the superfluous additions that Microsoft and hardware vendors load on these machines. 

Hope all this is understandable...

 

[Sparktrician]

If you're a mac guy

& you already have a monitor then ( MacMini $ 249, I would choose the last one in the list))
http://www.cowboom.com/product/1209361/

& you want something with a monitor (24" monitor iMac  $ 525)
http://www.cowboom.com/product/651360/

______________________
If you're a PC guy

& you want something with a monitor  (20 in monitor $359)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-slimline-400-314-desktop-20-led-monitor-package/9999228400050001.p?id=pcmprd227100050001&skuId=9999228400050001&st=categoryid$pcmcat212600050011&lp=2&cp=1

& you already have a monitor ($ 249)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-slimline-desktop-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive/5815013.p?id=1219194065871&skuId=5815013&st=categoryid$pcmcat212600050008&cp=1&lp=1

All those options up there come with wifi just incase you didn't want to run a ethernet cable to the computer. You don't need anything fancy for what you mentioned above, The very best thing to speed up any computer right now is to replace ( or add as main software drive) the hard drive with an SSD, You can go to newegg.com for good reviews on ssd's, only problem you might face is that ssd's that don't cost much, won't give you much space either, but if you're not a music hoarder or a movie downloader then even an 120gb ssd should be just fine and a good deal on one of those should be $ 90 or less.

If you're going to consider buying from BestBuy, strongly recommend that you first read in detail the restrictions and penalties on returns before springing the cash (or plastic) so you don't get screwed. 

Concur that SSDs are great, but be aware that they're anywhere from five to eight times as expensive as an electromechanical hard drive.  A good place to find the best pricing is Pricegrabber.com. 

 

[Roseland]

+1 for the Mac, any Mac!

Andrew

 

[Holzhacker]

I got the SSD drive in my last Macbook Pro just sort of for the hell of it, yeah sure upgrade drive, ok, sounds fine. I don't know that I would want to buy another machine without an SSD drive. So much faster. I have both the Macbook Pro and the big 27" desktop. The difference is speed is obvious. Desktop doesn't have an SSD. If you spend money on an upgrade, make it an SSD.

 

[lawhoo]

+1 on SSDs.  I buy only laptops (and tablets), so I appreciate the double-bonus of speed and durability.  While I still try to avoid dropping my laptop, I no longer fear a loss of a hard drive if I do.

 

[Bgladd]

I put an SSD in my 2007 imac, and it's MUCH faster.

 

[Hunter]

Wandering a bit afield here, but I'd definitely recommend getting a machine with an SSD or upgrading the machine you have to one.  An older machine will literally feel new again, it's that much faster.

It's not the better raw transfer rate that is usually the most noticeable improvement, it's the access time... which is the time spent looking for each piece of info on the drive before it's sent to you.  On an SSD that is basically instantaneous, on a rotating drive you have to move the arm to the right place and then wait for the disk to swing around to the right spot. When you consider that programs can (and do) access thousands of different files on startup then you can see how saving a millisecond or two for each of those files adds up to really snappy operation with the SSD, and explains why starting your browser takes several seconds on normal machines.

Good luck,
  Hunter